The avian influenza found in chickens in Kumamoto Prefecture has been identified as the H5N8 virus, the agriculture ministry said Thursday.
The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said it found H5N8 in samples from birds at a farm in Kumamoto where a surge in chicken deaths set off the culling Sunday and Monday of some 112,000 birds.
This is the first discovery of the H5N8 virus in Japan. Cases of suspected H5N8 bird infections have been reported since January in South Korea.
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